


The Sentinel, a Guide, and a Mystery

by franscats



Category: The Sentinel
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-20
Updated: 2015-02-20
Packaged: 2018-03-13 21:04:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,671
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3396287
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/franscats/pseuds/franscats
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After Blair joins the PD and becomes a detective, he decides to write a "fictional" account of a sentinel detective and his partner guide - who fall in love.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Sentinel, a Guide, and a Mystery

**Author's Note:**

> This was written for the Sentinel Thursday challenge #359-Fiction.
> 
> This story takes place after The Sentinel by Blair Sandburg and is rated R for adult themes.

Jim Ellison sighed as he got off the elevator on the third floor and headed for the loft. It was his turn to shop for food and he was just returning,armed with many bags and wondering if he could get the door open without putting them down, when he heard the soft click of computer keys being tapped. Realizing Blair was home, he neared the door to the loft and instead of shifting his many bags of food and digging out his keys, knocked lightly on the door with his foot, hoping Blair, who Jim could tell was in his bedroom by the quiet clicking, wasn’t wearing headphones. His hopes were rewarded when Blair opened the door and immediately grabbed a couple of bags carrying them in and placing them on the counter. 

“What all did you buy?” he asked, peering in a bag and seeing some avocadoes before starting to pull out the contents. 

“The food was fresh so I thought I’d stock up.” Blair nodded glancing at the sentinel, a small smile playing across his lips as he considered his roommate and best friend.

“You know you could probably make a really good career as a produce buyer.” He paused considering the idea. “Yeah, the sentinel produce buyer to the stars. You’d be a real success with that sensitive nose.”

“Very funny, Chief,” Jim answered, putting away bottles of beer. “And what, you’d be the guide to healthy eating.” Blair smiled ducking the gentle swat to the head his partner aimed at him and nodded.

“I could do that.” He grabbed a pineapple and sniffed at it, enjoying the fresh scent before putting it on a cutting board.

“Right,” Jim grabbed a bottle of water and leaned against the counter considering Blair. “So what were you typing?”

“Oh, um…” Blair paused, biting at his lower lip before answering, “I’m writing a book.”

“A book? Do I even want to know?”

“I guess you do,” Blair answered, shifting his weight nervously. “I’m writing a fictional story about a private detective with heightened senses who solves crimes.”

“What?” Jim stared at his young partner in shock. “Sandburg, are you crazy?”

“No, not at all,” Blair answered, before hurrying on to explain. “Listen Jim, this only supports what I said after the press conference. I stated that the sentinel piece was fiction and that it was released without my permission. Writing a fictional story supports that idea and I might still help sentinels who come across the story.”

Jim paused thinking about Blair’s idea. He knew Blair was happy as a cop and as his partner but some part of the young man was still fascinated by sentinels and wanted to be an anthropologist. If writing a fictional account made him happy, well what harm could it cause? After all, as Blair said, it would only support the idea that it was fiction. “Okay,” he said at last looking over at the guide, “what’s the main character’s name and it better not be Jim?”

“Francis.” Blair answered, relieved that his friend wasn’t angry. 

Jim shook his head. “Don’t like it, try another.”

“What’s the matter with…never mind. How about I change it to David?”

“Nope, I knew a guy named David in the Rangers. Biggest pain in the ass you could meet and he kept losing his rifle.” Blair wisely kept any comments about that to himself.

“Daniel?” Blair suggested, and Jim considered this for a moment. 

“Maybe, but I read the whole thing before you send it to anyone.” Blair nodded his agreement, heading into the bedroom and returning with some typed pages which he handed to Jim.

“Here’s the first three chapters. Why don’t you start reading and I’ll prep dinner and then I’ve got to meet Daryl. I promised Simon I’d help him with his paper. I’ll be back in a couple of hours and you can tell me what you think so far.”

“Should I make corrections?” Jim asked, reaching in a drawer and grabbing a pen.

“Absolutely, man,” Blair headed to the kitchen, but glanced over at Jim sitting with the papers and smiled. Chapters one through three were ready and though Blair had written a chapter four, he had done it just for fun and it wouldn’t go into the book. Chapter four was a major sex scene between the male sentinel and his male guide. Blair doubted the publishers or Jim for that matter would be ready for that scene.

Finishing prepping the lasagna, Blair called out a goodbye to Jim, who barely looked up before returning to the typed pages, and grabbing his jacket Blair took off.

Jim continued to read until he finished the chapters and then sat back considering them thoughtfully. Blair had left a cliffhanger at the end of the chapter and Jim speculated on how the sentinel and guide would get out of the situation. Jim had to admit it actually was shaping into a good story, loosely based on some cases they had worked while Blair was still an observer. Gathering the papers and straightening the pile, he moved to Blair’s room and placed the papers on the desk next to his computer and then noticed some pages under the laptop. Reaching down, Jim gathered the pages thinking they were part of the next chapter and walked back it to the living room and began reading. 

The pages took Jim through the guide and sentinel escaping from a bomb laden warehouse and heading home to recoup and strategize, the pair realizing how close they had come to losing each other. The chapter ended in the pair admitting their love for each other and falling into the sentinel’s bed where they had extremely graphic sex. 

Jim sat back after reading the chapter, mostly in shock. What on Earth had led Blair to write the chapter? Did Blair have sexual feelings for Jim? These questions and many others swept through the sentinel’s brain and he tried to consider how to deal with this sudden revelation. Rising, Jim looked around the loft and considered his relationship with Blair. Jim had been married, knew what it was like living as a couple, and looking at the lasagna, ready to go in the oven, had to admit, he and Blair were like a married couple, just without the sex. And Blair had been a cop for six months getting regular paychecks and hadn’t even mentioned moving out. He mumbled something about his loans but Jim knew Blair considered the loft home and wasn’t in any rush to leave. Jim wasn’t in any rush for Blair to go either. But was he ready for a sexual relationship? He had never been interested in another man and hadn’t considered himself gay, but Jim didn’t think of Blair as another man. Maybe it was a sentinel guide thing but Blair was just Blair and looking around the loft Jim smiled as he realized, yes, he loved Blair, was in love with Blair, and could share a sexual relationship with this one other man. They would have to keep it quiet because they would never be allowed to partner at work if it were known but he would be happy to spend the rest of his life with Blair as a partner. Still smiling, Jim returned the papers to the desk and tried to consider how he would approach the subject with his guide.

When Blair returned from tutoring Daryl the lasagna was ready to come out of the oven, the table was set, and Jim had opened a bottle of red wine. “The table looks great Jim,” he dropped into his usual seat and watched as Jim poured two glasses of red wine and brought the food to the table.

“How was the tutoring?”

“Good, I clarified a few points for Daryl but he’ll do fine,” Blair answered as he reached for his wine.

“He’s a smart kid,” Jim agreed, holding his own glass and considering the guide as Blair dug into the food. “Blair ever been with a man?” he asked, and watched the young man choke before reaching for and swallowing some wine.

“What?”

“Ever been with a man?” Jim repeated, watching Blair turn red.

“Ah no.” 

Jim nodded. “Ever think about it?”

“I ah, Jim, where’s this coming from?” Jim considered the question.

“I found the next chapter of your book.”

“What!” Blair froze, the stem of the wine glass clutched so tight in his hand that Jim grabbed it and put it on the table before Blair could crush it and cut himself.

“It was interesting.”

“It was interesting,” Blair repeated, in a small voice. “Jim it was…”

“Interesting,” Jim cut him off and repeated. “I’ve never thought about having an affair with my guide. It was a new twist on sentinel guide relations.” He looked closely at Blair. “But the idea is…”

“Interesting,” Blair repeated, his eyes locked on Jim’s as he realized this conversation was not what he would expect from Jim and there was a chance for something he had dreamed and fantasized about for years. “Ever been with a man, Jim?”

“Nope,” he leaned forward his hand coming to rest on Blair’s, lightly tugging him closer. “But I read an interesting chapter on how it would work.”

“Did you?” Blair leaned closer, his lips near Jim’s. 

“Oh yes and you know,” Jim leaned forward to meet Blair, “it’s a relationship I want.” He moved the last few inches forward and kissed the guide, “because I’ve been in love with my guide forever.”

“Funny,” Blair whispered, rising to move closer to the sentinel. “I’ve been in love with my sentinel since the Switchman case.”

Jim rose and pulled Blair into his arms. “Then I guess it’s a good thing you wrote that book because I doubt we would have had this conversation otherwise. Should we try some of those things you wrote about?” he asked, and Blair nodded, food forgotten as the pair moved away from the table.


End file.
